Tank for lionfish

[queequegbls]

I have a 30G Tall FO tank that's been set up for about six months. However, I've decided that I want to get a lionfish. I know I have to get rid of all my current fish (they're all bite size) so the 30G will be for the lion and the lion alone. My question is which species should I get. I know a dwarf lion would probably be fine but would it be possible to keep an antenatta. I know that tank size is detrimental to keeping a healthy lion but I was thinking it would be okay to keep an antennata as long as its the only fish. Any opinions would be appreciated. I want to do it right

 

[skirk]

Welp, I personally think it would be a little to small for an antenatta. I would stick to something like a common dwarf (zebra dwarf) or something like that. The "fuzzy" dwarf lion is nice also. They both can get up to 6". Mine got pretty large and nice looking. I had one of each of those.
It's not that your antenatta wouldn't live (because he may) it's just that a 30gal is not the ideal size tank for it. I'd say at least a 55gal is necessary for comfort. And since you said you want to do it right, you should probably go with the dwarf. I'd think maybe you could get 2 of the dwarfs. The tend not to swim around as much (from my experiences) so the space would'nt be such an issue. But then again, that would be only them and no other fish. Along with your lr for hiding of course. An antenatta wouldn't be to large of a bio load with proper filtration, I think he just needs a little more space to swim. The other way you would have 2 fish to keep eachother company. Just my 2 cents. HTH and good luck.

 

[fshhub]

just a little fyi for all, guppies are not the best thing that can be fed to any marine fish, in fact they are way down on the bottom of the list, feeding a lion guppies deprives it of nutrients they need and can cause liver damage, i highly reccommend not feeding them any fw fish species

 

[underthesea]

try krill or silversides. Squide is also another good food for them. When i fed mine i would thaw the food in vitamens and let it soak for a good 1/2 hour before feeding.

 

[jsolomon]

Speaking of lionfish, I was at my LFS the other day and for the first time I saw a Volitan Lion. It was one of the nicest looking fish. He was also very large. He was probably about 6 or 7 inches long and then his spines were probably 3 inches each. I though lionfish were fairly small when you purchase them. If I had a tank to keep this fish I would have bought him. He was an extremely nice looking fish.

 

[fshhub]

shrimp, or get some type of feedr fish that is sw, if you really want to feed live, i would say some damsels, they are probably the cheapest fish you can purchase, but if he does not eat them right away, they may bother him
or get somethign that breeds real easy adn is small for in another tank, and raise them yourself , but in any case, i would not use fw feeders much(only maybe as a RARE treat if feeding frozen, but that is it)
HTH

 

[von_rahvin]

a FU MANCHU lion! they are great!
live saltwater shrimp, since i live in florida i just get mine from the baitstore

 

[25gator]

does anyone know if the cold water fish would be ok to feed them.i'm up in mass and we have these little (1-3")guppy looking things inthe salt marshes.